Ryūji Keikain
is Yura's older brother and acts as a team with Mamiru. He believes that the world is divided into black and white, with yōkai being absolute black and onmyōji being white, causing him to have no hesitation in striking one down. He is eventually revealed to have been a potential candidate for the leadership of the Keikain household. Personality He is a sly trickster who doesn't hesitate to use underhanded tactics during his fights. In fact, he calls himself the "number one liar" and always tricks his opponents into doing exactly what he wants them to do. Ryūji constantly berates and teases his sister, to an extent that she often refers to him as a "demonic older brother." He went so far as to purposefully drop her after he caught her falling from a spirit carriage, stating that she was "heavy." When they went to XX Village, he forced her to carry all of their belongings. Despite all this, however, he actually does care for her and recognizes her importance as the only one able to summon Hagun. He protects her from being killed by falling rubble during Tsuchigumo's attack and intervenes when the possessed Akifusa nearly kills her, despite recognizing that he would be at a disadvantage in a fight against the latter. He also appears to be sensitive about his height, as seen in the question-and-answer sections of the tankōbon and the ever-present footwear that adds a significant amount to his stature. He refuses to state his height as it would be minus the clogs and goes out of his way to prevent Yura from telling it either. Synopsis Keikain Arc Ryūji and Mamiru arrive in Ukiyoe Town, where they have been sent to deliver a message to Yura. While searching for her, they come across the Fake Aotabō and Kurotabō and make short work of them. Not long after, they have a confrontation with the real Aotabō - who they manage to knock unconscious by tag-teaming their techniques and electrocuting him. When they ultimately find Yura, she is with Rikuo and Ryūji senses immediately that the latter is actually a yōkai. He berates Yura for not having noticed and then ends up fighting her when she chooses to believe in and defend Rikuo. Ryūji utilizes the shikigami Gengen against her but is stopped from fully incapacitating her when Rikuo changes to his yōkai form and intervenes. Angry that someone other than him has deceived Yura, Ryūji fights Rikuo using the shikigami fusion technique Gyōgen, which produces a large number of highly corrosive liquid-filled flowers. He claims that he is only able to maintain such a strong shikigami for a maximum of 3 minutes, as he lacks the talent exhibited by Yura and Mamiru. This, however, turns out to be a lie; the 3-minute limit is the amount of time it takes Ryūji to set up and activate Gyōgen's ultimate attack. He smugly believes himself the victor afterward, until Rikuo appears behind him. When Ryūji subsequently moves to attack again, Rikuo slashes him with Nenekirimaru - momentarily incapacitating him. While Mamiru launches an attack against the injured Rikuo, Ryūji climbs to his feet and recognizes Rikuo's sword as being a blade capable of only harming yōkai. This doesn't alter his intentions of killing Rikuo, however, and he orders Mamiru to finish the job. The pair are stopped from doing so by the timely arrival of Rikuo's Hyakki Yakō, and Ryūji opts not to continue the fight despite having already surrounded the area with a two-level Gyōgen barrier. When Mamiru refuses to let the yōkai go, Ryūji uses Gengen to force his compliance. Ryūji then tells Yura of the current situation in Kyōto and the order for her to return to the Keikain Main House before begrudgingly giving Nenekirimaru back to Rikuo and passing on a disgruntled message for Nurarihyon from the Keikain household. After they have left the area, Ryūji inwardly states that his actions in not continuing the fight were in deference to Rikuo's human blood - which he doesn't intend to acknowledge any further, as he doesn't accept "gray" existences. Kyōto Arc Hyaku Monogatari Clan Arc He investigates XX village and with his sister yura eliminates all evil yōkai from the village. Before leaving he catches a glimpse of Yanagida. Abilities Much like all members of the Keikain's main house, Ryūji specializes in Shikigami. He claims that he is not as talented as Yura or Mamiru, though he makes up for this supposed lack of talent by attacking his enemies psychologically as well as physically. ''Psychological Attacks- ''Ryūji's plan of attack in battle largely consists of feeding a string of false information to his opponents, misdirecting his opponents into their own defeat. Some examples include his misleading Rikuo into believing Gengen is an offensive shikigami, tricking the demons of XX Village into attacking his much stronger sister, and leading Hagoromo Kitsune into a seal through deception. While he claims Yura and Mamiru are much more talented than he is, Ryūji makes up for his lack of talent through exceptional battle strategy and technical prowess, even overpowering his "more talented sister." Ryūji's Shikigami *Kyōgen - A shikigami made of deadly poison which appears as a husk in Ryūji's likeness. If the affected doesn't take an antidote within a minute, they will die. *Garō (aka. Gengen) - A shikigami which primarily appears as a monstrous black wolf. Its true name is "Gengen," but Ryūji refers to it by both names. He gives it single-word orders, such as "run" or "devour" so as to prevent enemies from figuring out his tactics. Gengen is a water-based shikigami which forces the fluids in a target's body to rage violently. *Gyōgen - A shikigami fusion composed of a large number of "konjousui flowers" mixed with Ryūji's spirit. The flowers are composed of a corrosive water that burns anything it touches. Trivia *He ranked 16th in the first character popularity poll with 242 votes and 8th in the second with 897 votes. He ranked 4th in the third popularity poll with 1,341 votes. *He makes an appearance in the mangaka's 2019 series Yui Kamio Let's Loose. Category:Characters Category:Human Category:Male Category:Onmyōji